Lake Highlands residents Raymond and Marydel Harris are probably the last people you think of when you envision the Hollywood movie crowd. Raymond is a local architect, and Marydel, mother of four grown children, is active in her church and volunteers in the community.
If you go see October Baby, a full-length feature film released a week ago and playing locally in Highland Park Village’s newly remodeled theatre, you’ll see Raymond listed as an Executive Producer. It’s the story of Hannah, a high school senior who discovers unexpectedly that she’s adopted. Her health problems, it turns out, relate back to her delivery – she’s the survivor of a botched abortion.
“We got involved because we met the two young film makers, Jon and Andy Erwin, several years ago when they were doing a series of short films for a ministry we’re involved with,” Marydel told me. “They are some of the most gifted, talented young men we have ever met. We invested in their fledgling film company, then October Baby came along. They had already won two Dove awards and were very busy in the music video business but felt they were ready to make a feature film.”
October Baby is a Christian film with a pro-life message, and it touches on serious themes like the damage of secrets and the power of forgiveness. There’s also humor, adventure and romance with a crazy cast of characters, a broken-down VW bus and a wacky arrest scene as Hannah embarks on a road trip to find her birth mother. John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) plays Hannah’s father and Jasmine Guy (Cosby Show spinoff A Different World) is the nurse who witnessed her birth and finally tells her the truth.
Being an EP didn’t involve walking the red carpet or hanging out on set with the actors (the film was shot entirely in Alabama), but Marydel admits they’ve had a fun week attending screenings of the film and sharing it with friends. You can check out showtimes here.
